“Why not?” I asked. “The other lies come so easily, why can you not manage this?”
“I would not take another woman, if you were my wife,” he said.
“Wouldn’t you? Sameer does it. You’re not as good as him,” I pressed. “But you are prettier. Smarter. Manlier! I bet you could bed as many whores as you wished! Multiple in one night if you were creative, and you could certainly make me one.”
“I would not,” he said.
“Yes, youwould,”I claimed. “You’re a rake and liar! You would have your way withallof us ladies of the court, too. Lady Agatha. Lady Aster. Miss Swift. You would have?—”
“I would not!” he said.
“Why?” I begged. “Why not all of us? We’re just low-hanging, ripe apples for the picking. Are we not? You like apples. Why wouldn’t you?—”
“Because I’ve only ever wantedyou!”he cried. We both came to a halt. “I-” Mr. Evergreen’s jaw locked. His nose flared. “I meant to say, I would only ever wantforyou,” he said.
Mr. Evergreen’s admission rattled my calm and tragically. I thought of a hundred possibilities before emitting a simple,“…Iwant you for you, too, Mr. Evergreen.Very much.”
His face twisted, somewhere between hurt and predator.
“Is that right?” he asked.
“You dare accuse yourQueenof dishonesty? In achurch?I knew you were an idiot but-”
“I do nothing of the sort,” he said, voice low.
He stepped closer, backing me into the altar. There was a clatter of trinkets from off of it.
“Oh!”I panicked, moving to collect them, but he only grinned. He watched me as I dropped one of the Saints.“Sorry!”
Cyrus took him from my hands and set him carefully to the side. I cleared my throat.
“Please,”he whispered. “Please say it again.”
I watched his lips. “I want for you, Mr. Evergreen.”
“Cyrus,” he replied.
“I-I want for you… Cyrus.”
“Howdo you want for me, my Queen? In particular?”
“I… I want you to… totouchme.”
His weight loaded to one side, braced against the edge of our shrine.
“You want me totouchyou?” he asked.
His thumb appeared along my cheekbone, cutting its angle. He snuck the rest of his hand into my scattered hair, smoothing it as he went.
“I touch you every chance I get,” he said. “You want more?”
“Y-Yes,” I said.
Cyrus tamed the other side, but he didn’t say anything.
Nervously, “I…” I feltdrunkon his air and shut my eyes to focus.
I heard him exhale quietly, then felt his lips as he pressed a kiss to the corner of mine. When I opened, he was still very close, waiting.
